Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods shot up at the fastest pace in 14 months in May, reflecting a huge jump in demand for commercial aircraft.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that orders for durable goods rose by 5.5 percent last month to total $210.7 billion. The gain far exceeded the 1.9 percent increase that economists had been expecting, but the strength was concentrated in demand for commercial aircraft, where orders more than doubled from their April level.

Excluding the volatile transportation sector, new orders for durable goods fell by 0.2 percent last month, marking the third decline in the past four months for orders outside of transportation.

Demand for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft fell by 2.3 percent in May, the biggest drop since last October. This category is closely watched for signs it can give of business plans to invest in new equipment to expand and modernize.